In 2024, we've experienced the loss of several luminaries in the world of entertainment. These beloved figures—actors, comedians, musicians, singers, and coaches—have touched our lives with their talent, passion, and dedication. They've left an indelible mark on our hearts and shaped the world of entertainment in ways that will continue to inspire and influence generations to come.
Among the incredible actors who bid farewell this year, we mourn the loss of a true chameleon who effortlessly.
Local legend Bill Webber, who was on Philadelphia radio and TV for six decades, passed away on Sunday, says the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.
The group said Webber, 80, had an apparent heart attack at a Philadelphia area hospital. He was chairman of the Pioneers, a group that honors TV and radio personalities in the Philadelphia area.
Webber was known to a generation of local viewers as Wee Willie Webber, when he hosted cartoon shows on channels 17 and 48.
Webber started his long career in 1954 at WFIL-TV (now 6 ABC) and moved to channel 3 in 1963.
In 1965, Webber became the face of Channel 17 for a decade, working on his kid's show and sporting events.
Webber was on radio at WIP for at least 25 years, and did other local radio shows.
Singer-actress-comedian Carla Zilbersmith has died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis she was 47. Zilbersmith did her best not to let being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurodegenerative disease, dampen her high-spirited sense of humor.
"For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease a couple of weeks ago.... I hate baseball," the San Francisco Chronicle reported the red-haired performer telling an audience at Berkeley's Hillside Club in January 2008. "I'd really much rather have been diagnosed with a basketball disease. Maybe Wilt Chamberlain disease. That's the one where you have sex 20,000 times and then you die."
Zilbersmith, who maintained her sense of humor throughout the progression of her disease and inspired others with how she faced death,died Monday at her home in Berkeley, said her son, Maclen Zilber. She was 47.
"Leave Them Laughing," a documentary about Zilbersmith by Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky, had its world premiere May 6 at the Hot Docs international documentary festival in Toronto, where the "musical comedy about dying" won the Special Jury Prize for Canadian documentary.
"I've never had so many laughs with any individual as with Carla," Zaritsky told The Times, "but at the same time, she was truly an inspiration for all of us."
As a performer, Zilbersmith received notice for her one-woman show "Wedding Singer Blues," which had its Los Angeles premiere at Upstairs at the Coronet in 2006.
In his review in The Times, David C. Nichols called the show "a festive satirical package" and described Zilbersmith as "a strong-voiced find with a knack for spot-on characterizations that recall Lily Tomlin, dialects, funny story lines and archetypes flying back and forth faster than a rogue garter."
Zilbersmith began having problems with her legs and fell down a number of times in 2007 before being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease that December.
She retired in spring 2008 after 14 years as artistic director and coordinator of the drama department at College of Marin.
"She was an incredibly inspiring creative force on the campus and had a very, very strong following of students," said W. Allen Taylor, who took over Zilbersmith's position when she retired.
The last show Zilbersmith directed at the college was "War and Peacemeal: the Musical,"a loose adaptation of Aristophanes' antiwar play "Peace."
Zilbersmith compared the themes of the play with her battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.
Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer. he was , 67. Dio was an Americanheavy metalvocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser Hear 'n Aid. He was widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal,[1] renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture. Prior to his death, he was collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice, under the moniker Heaven & Hell, whose first studio album, The Devil You Know, was released on April 28, 2009.[2] Dio died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010.[3][4]
He initially played the trumpet and French horn[6] and even recorded several singles with various rockabilly bands when he was a boy. When he was in high school, he joined a band called The Vegas Kings, in which he played the bass guitar. He eventually became the lead singer of this band, which changed its name to Ronnie & The Rumblers and finally to Ronnie And The Red Caps. Their first 7-inch single was released in 1958 on Reb Records under the name Ronnie & The Redcaps. Its A-side, 'Lover' still had Billy DeWolfe on vocals but Dio's voice can be heard clearly in the back. The B-side, 'Conquest' is an instrumental in the style of the Ventures, featuring Dio on trumpet.
Dio graduated from the Cortland City School in 1960, and was inducted to the Cortland City School Hall of Fame in 2004.[7] He was also honored on November 15, 1988 by his hometown naming a street after him, Dio Way.[8]
During a performance at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, NY (near Buffalo, NY) on September 19, 2007, Dio revealed that he had attended the University at Buffalo, majoring in pharmacy.[9] University at Buffalo officials confirmed that he did attend from 1960 to 1961 but did not graduate. He formed one of his early bands during his freshman year.[10]
He was offered a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music but did not pursue it due to his interest in rock music.[11] Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Dio claims never to have taken any vocal training.[5] He attributes his singing ability to the correct breathing techniques he learned when playing the French horn as a child.
Dio's musical career began in 1957 when several Cortland, New York musicians formed the band The Vegas Kings, which soon changed their name to Ronnie and the Rumblers. This band's lineup had Padavona on the bass guitar, along with singer Billy DeWolfe, guitarist Nick Pantas, drummer Tom Rogers, and saxophone player Jack Musci.
In 1958, the band again changed their name, along with a few changes of personnel. The band was now known as Ronnie and the Redcaps. At this point, Padavona began singing, replacing DeWolfe. Musci also left the band, and a new guitarist, Dick Botoff, joined. The Redcaps lineup released two singles: "Lover" b/w "Conquest" (with DeWolfe on vocals on the A-side) on the Reb label, and on Seneca (S 178-102, USA), "An Angel Is Missing" with "What'd I Say" on the B side (both songs featuring Padavona on vocals).
In 1961, they changed their name to Ronnie Dio and The Prophets. The Prophets lineup lasted for quite a long time and produced several singles and one album. Some sources state that some of the single releases were made by Ronnie James Dio solo, but others, such as Dio himself, state that all of the singles were made as a band.
Padavona took up the name "Dio" after mafia member Johnny Dio,[12] and first used it professionally in 1961, when he added it to the band's second release on Seneca. Soon after that the band changed their name to Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. The group released several singles during the following years, until 1967.
Ronnie Dio and the Prophets disbanded in 1967, but he and Prophets guitarist Nick Pantas started a new band called the Electric Elves. They shortened their name to Elf in 1969, and went on to become an opening act for Deep Purple.
Dio's vocals caught the ear of Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and when Blackmore left the band, he recruited Dio and other members of Elf to form Rainbow. Rainbow released its first album in 1975. Dio recorded three more albums with Rainbow, but he left the band due to creative differences: Blackmore had wanted to take the band in a more commercial direction.
In 1979, after leaving Rainbow, Dio joined Black Sabbath, replacing Ozzy Osbourne. They released the successful Heaven and Hell album, which revitalized the band's career. They went on to make The Mob Rules, less successful than its predecessor, but still a hit, and the first official Black Sabbath live album, Live Evil.
Along with Gene Simmons of KISS, Dio helped popularize the "devil's horns" gesture.[13][14] Dio says that his grandmother used to make the hand gesture to ward off the evil eye, which is very common among superstitious Southern Italians. The "horns," or "Corna," themselves are used both to scare away and give someone the "Malocchio" (the Evil Eye). He also stated that, as Ozzy often made the peace sign during shows, he did not want to be seen as copying Osbourne, so used the sign instead.
Ronnie James Dio is not the first to use the "horns sign". The band Coven used it on all their record albums and on stage as well going back to 1968. Parliament-Funkadelic also used the "horns sign" regularly, as seen in many promo shots, album art work and concerts in the 1970s.[citation needed] Dio is, however, credited as being the one who popularized it amongs rock fans.
In 1992, Dio briefly returned to Black Sabbath to record Dehumanizer. The album was a minor hit, reaching the Top 40 in the United Kingdom, and #44 on the Billboard 200.
In 1980, Dio sang the tracks "To Live for the King" and "Mask of the Great Deceiver" on Kerry Livgren's solo album Seeds of Change. Dio, who was between stints as singer for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Black Sabbath, later proved somewhat controversial among Livgren's Christian fans, as Black Sabbath and Dio were then perceived as "satanic" by many Christians. Dio said in an interview that he did not consider the album to be a "Christian" album and had performed on it as a favor to Livgren.
In 1982, the mixing of the live album Live Evil led to Dio and drummer Vinny Appice quitting the band to form the band Dio.
Tenacious D has written a tribute song entitled "Dio" that appears on their self-titled album, Tenacious D, that calls for the singer to "pass the torch" on to them. Reportedly, Dio approved of it, and had Tenacious D appear in his video "Push". He also appeared in the film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, playing himself. However, on VH1, some have interpreted small clips of an interview with him as expressing resentment at the idea that he needs to "pass the torch" and seemed uncertain that Tenacious D is worthy of such an honor. When viewed in full, this interview is clearly done in good humor.[original research?]
In 2005, Dio was revealed to be the voice behind Dr. X in Operation: Mindcrime II, the sequel to Queensrÿche's seminal concept album Operation: Mindcrime. His part was shown in a prerecorded video on the subsequent tour, and Ronnie appeared onstage to sing the part live on at least one occasion (both shown on the Mindcrime at the Moore DVD).
During September 2005, Dio toured Siberia and Russia's far east, kicking off in Khabarovsk.[15]
In October 2006, it was confirmed that Dio would be joining Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice to tour under the moniker Heaven & Hell, which was the title of the first Dio era Black Sabbath album. They chose the name Heaven & Hell as Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are still in the Black Sabbath band with Ozzy Osbourne and felt it was best to use a different moniker for the Dio version of the band. Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was to be involved in this project, but he later withdrew. In 2008 the band completed a 98-date world tour.
The band released one album under the Heaven & Hell name, The Devil You Know, to critical and commercial acclaim.
They had planned to release a follow-up in 2010.
In 2006, Dio appeared in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny playing himself. He plays a small role at the beginning of the movie, where Lil' JB, played by Troy Gentile, is angry because his father, played by Meat Loaf, won't let him play rock because he thinks it's the devil's music. Lil' JB then prays to a poster of Dio to help him out. Dio comes to life and urges him in song to "leave his oppressive neighborhood" and head to Hollywood.
Dio married his first wife, Loretta Berardi (born 1941), sometime in the 1960s. They adopted one son, Dan Padavona (born July 1968), who works as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York.[16]
After divorcing Berardi, he married Wendy Galaxiola (born 1947), who also served as his manager. In the 1980s she managed the Los Angeles rock bands Rough Cutt and Hellion. She is the chair of the privately sponsored organization, Children of the Night, dedicated to rescuing America's children from prostitution. Dio remained married to Galaxiola until his death.
On November 25, 2009, Wendy announced that Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer:[17]
"Ronnie has been diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. We are starting treatment immediately at the Mayo Clinic. After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans. Long live rock and roll, long live Ronnie James Dio. Thanks to all the friends and fans from all over the world that have sent well wishes. This has really helped to keep his spirit up."
On March 14, 2010, Wendy posted an online update on his condition:
"It has been Ronnie's 7th chemo, another cat scan and another endoscopy, and the results are good – the main tumour has shrunk considerably, and our visits to Houston (cancer clinic in Texas) are now every three weeks instead of every two weeks."
On May 4, 2010, Heaven and Hell announced they were cancelling all summer dates as a result of Dio's ill health.[18]
Dio died at 7:45 am (CDT) on May 16, 2010, according to official sources.[19][20][21]
"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."
Dio's career spanned six decades, from 1957 to 2010. During this period, and particularly in the 21st century, he received a number of distinctions and awards. He was inducted to the Cortland City Hall of Fame in 2004, and also has a street named after him called Dio Way in Cortland, NY. Classic Rock MagazineRevolver Golden Gods Awards in April 2010 for his work on The Devil You Know, making him the oldest recipient of this award (67). He accepted the award in person at what was to be his final public appearance, less than one month before his death.[24]awarded Dio with the "Metal Guru Award" at their yearly "Roll Of Honour" awards ceremony in 2006. On January 17, 2007, Dio was inducted into Guitar Center's Rock Walk of Fame in Hollywood, CA. Dio was named "Best Metal Singer" at the
A public memorial service has been scheduled for 2 p.m. May 30 at The Hall Of Liberty, located at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles. It is free for fans to attend.[25]
presented Jones with a Doctorate Degree for his musical accomplishments.
Jones recorded over sixty albums under his own name, and countless others as a sideman.[5]
(July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010)
Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Henry "Hank" Jones moved to Pontiac, Michigan, where his father, a Baptist deacon and lumber inspector, bought a three-story brick home. One of seven children, Jones was raised in a musical family. His mother sang; his two older sisters studied piano; and his two younger brothers—Thad, a trumpeter, and Elvin, a drummer—also became prominent jazz musicians.[6] He studied piano at an early age and came under the influence of Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum. By the age of 13 Jones was performing locally in Michigan and Ohio. While playing with territory bands in Grand Rapids and Lansing in 1944 he met Lucky Thompson, who invited Jones to work in New York City at the Onyx Club with Hot Lips Page.[7]
In New York, Jones regularly listened to leading bop musicians, and was inspired to master the new style. While practicing and studying the music he worked with John Kirby, Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Andy Kirk, and Billy Eckstine. In autumn 1947, he began touring in Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package, and from 1948 to 1953 he was accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald, and accompanying her in England in the Fall of 1948,[8] developed a harmonic facility of extraordinary taste and sophistication. During this period he also made several historically important recordings with Charlie Parker, which included "The Song Is You", from the Now's the Time album, recorded in December 1952, with Teddy Kotick on bass and Max Roach on drums.
During the late 1970s and the 1980s, Jones continued to record prolifically, as an unaccompanied soloist, in duos with other pianists (including John Lewis and Tommy Flanagan), and with various small ensembles, most notably the Great Jazz Trio. The group took this name in 1976, by which time Jones had already begun working at the Village Vanguard with its original members, Ron Carter and Tony Williams (it was Buster Williams rather than Carter, however, who took part in the trio's first recording session in 1976); by 1980 Jones' sidemen were Eddie Gomez and Al Foster, and in 1982 Jimmy Cobb replaced Foster. The trio also recorded with other all-star personnel, such as Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and Nancy Wilson. In the early 1980s Jones held a residency as a solo pianist at the Cafe Ziegfeld and made a tour of Japan, where he performed and recorded with George Duvivier and Sonny Stitt. Jones' versatility was more in evidence with the passage of time. He collaborated on recordings of Afro-pop with an ensemble from Mali and on an album of spirituals, hymns and folksongs with Charlie Haden called Steal Away (1995).
Some of his later recordings are For My Father (2005) with bassist George Mraz and drummer Dennis Mackrel, a solo piano recording issued in Japan under the title Round Midnight (2006), and as a side man on Joe Lovano's Joyous Encounter (2005). Jones made his debut on Lineage Records, recording with Frank Wess and with the guitarist Eddie Diehl, but also appeared on West of 5th (2006) with Jimmy Cobb and Christian McBride on Chesky Records. He also accompanied Diana Krall for "Dream a Little Dream of Me" on the album compilation, We all Love Ella (Verve 2007). He is one of the musicians who test and talk about the piano in the documentary Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037, released in November 2007.
Hank Jones lived in upstate New York and in Manhattan. He died at a hospice in Manhattan, New York, on May 16, 2010. He is survived by his wife Theodosia.
Born as Phyllis Pamela Green, she started figure modelling to pay for her art school studies and moved on to photographic modelling because it paid more. Early in her career Pamela Green was photographed by Bill Brandt (while still at art college), Zoltán Glass and Angus McBean.
In 1954 Pamela started to supply the bookshops and newsagents of London's Soho with her own postcard sets of glamour photographs, to supplement her work as a photographer's model. The success of this business with her then partner George Harrison Marks, promoted them to set up Kamera Publications Ltd.
With her as Managing Director, they produced several magazines, with Kamera being the most successful. It was the first glamour magazine of any note in the UK, and heralded the top-shelf magazine industry in the country. As their success grew they ventured into 8mm cine film production.
Following her divorce from Guy Hillier, she moved in with Harrison Marks and took his name, but there is doubt over whether they actually married. In 1961 she split with Harrison Marks and eventually the business was wound up; Kamera ceased publication in 1968. He always acknowledged his debt to Pamela Green and said in his biography The Naked Truth, "Pam set me up. She started it all."
Green continued to model for the photographer Douglas Webb, her last husband, a former war hero of the Dambusters raid. She became Webb's camera stills assistant and worked for the major movie companies in London. In 1986 and Webb moved to the Isle of Wight.
Doris Eaton Travis[2] American performer, last surviving Ziegfeld girl, has died of aneurysm. Travis was a Broadway and film performer, dance instructor, and author. She was also the last surviving Ziegfeld girl.
Travis began performing onstage as a young child, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 13. A year later, in 1918, she joined the famed Ziegfeld Follies as the youngest Ziegfeld Girl ever cast in the show. She continued to perform in stage productions and silent films throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. As of 2010, she was, along with Miriam Seegar and Barbara Kent, one of the last surviving non-child actors who appeared in silent films.
When her career in stage and screen declined, she started a second career as an Arthur Murray dance instructor and local television personality in Detroit. Her association with Arthur Murray lasted for three decades, during which time she rose through the ranks to own and manage a chain of nearly 20 schools. After retiring from her career with Arthur Murray, she went on to manage a horse ranch with her husband and returned to school, eventually earning several degrees.
In her later years, Travis had returned to the public eye. As the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl, she was been featured in several books and documentaries about the Ziegfeld Follies and her other stage endeavors. Eaton Travis had also returned to the stage as a featured performer in benefit performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. She died on May 11, 2010 at age 106.
(March 14, 1904 – May 11, 2010)
On March 14, 1904, Doris Eaton was born in Norfolk, Virginia to Mary and Charles Eaton. She was one of seven children in the family.[3] Eaton began attending dance lessons in Washington, D.C., along with her sisters Mary and Pearl Eaton, aged four. In 1911, all three sisters were hired for a production of Maurice Maeterlinck's fantasy play The Blue Bird at the Shubert Belasco Theatre in Washington. While Eaton had a minor role in the show, as a sleeping child in the Palace of Night scene, it marked the beginning of her career in professional theatre.[4]
After The Blue Bird, in 1912, the three Eaton sisters and their younger brother Joe began appearing in various plays and melodramas for the Poli Stock Company. They quickly gained reputations as professional, reliable, and versatile actors, and were rarely out of work.[4]
In 1915, all three sisters appeared in a new production of The Blue Bird for Poli. Doris and Mary were given the starring roles of Mytyl and Tyltyl. The siblings were subsequently invited to reprise their roles for a New York and road tour of the play, produced by the Shubert Brothers. When the show closed, Doris and her brother Charlie, who had followed his four siblings into show business, resumed their work with Poli and appeared together in their first Broadway show, Mother Carey's Chickens at the Cort Theatre. The entire Eaton family relocated to New York City, where the children pursued their careers in various stage projects.[4][5]
By 1918, Pearl Eaton had become a dancer and assistant to the director with the Ziegfeld Follies. The Follies were a series of elaborate musical revues on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. Inspired by the Folies Bergères of Paris, the Follies were conceived and mounted by Florenz Ziegfeld.[6] When Doris accompanied Pearl to a rehearsal, dance supervisor Ned Wayburn spotted her and hired her for a role in the summer touring company of the 1918 Follies.[7][8]
The day she finished the eighth grade, Doris began rehearsals to become a Ziegfeld girl in the Follies.[9] To circumvent child labor laws and the attention of the Gerry Society, she performed under the stage names "Doris Levant" (actually her young niece's name) and "Lucille Levant". As soon as she turned sixteen, she began using her real name again. Wayburn was one of only a few people who were aware of her true age, and arranged for her mother to accompany her on the Follies tour as a paid member of the company.[4][8]
Eaton Travis would associate with Ziegfeld for several years, appearing in the 1918, 1919, and 1920 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies and the 1919 Midnight Frolics.[5] She was the understudy to star Marilyn Miller. Doris was not the only member of the Eaton family to prosper in the show: by 1922, Mary, Pearl, Doris, Joe, and ten-year old Charlie had all performed in one edition of the Follies or another. Doris' last appearance with the Follies was in the 1920 edition.[4][7]
Eaton Travis made her motion picture debut at the age of 17 in the 1921 romantic drama At the Stage Door, opposite silent film star Billie Dove. Her career flourished in the 1920s and early 1930s. She appeared in a number of additional silent films, including Tell Your Children with director Donald Crisp in England and Egypt; performed in five different Broadway shows and danced in the Hollywood Music Box Revue and the Gorham Follies in Los Angeles and the Hollywood Club in New York.[10][4][7]
While in the Hollywood Music Box Revue, Eaton Travis premiered two important songs, both composed by Nacio Herb Brown: "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Doll Dance." Doris was the lyricist for the latter song, but did not receive due credit.
Aged 18, Doris Eaton married Joe Gorham, the producer of the Gorham Follies. The marriage was opposed by the Eaton clan, and quickly regretted by the young Doris when Gorham, who was twice her age, revealed a cruel and abusive nature. The union lasted for six months, ending when Gorham died of a heart attack.[4][7]
She performed in her final Broadway show, the play Merrily We Roll Along at the Music Box Theatre, in 1935.[5] Her career, along with those of her siblings, declined in the 1930s. She returned to work in stock theatrical productions on Long Island and had a brief, albeit unsuccessful, foray into vaudeville with her brother Charlie.[4]
In 1936, she was hired by the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in New York as a tap dance instructor. She remained with the Arthur Murray company for thirty-two years, advancing from teaching to owning her own school. Eventually Eaton Travis established and owned a total of eighteen Arthur Murray studios across Michigan. She authored a column of dance advice and commentary for the Detroit News entitled "On Your Toes" and hosted a local television program for seven years.[4][11][8]
One of her pupils, inventor and engineer Paul Travis, became her husband after an 11-year courtship. Their marriage would endure for over fifty years, until Paul's death in 2000; they had no children.[11][4] After retiring from the dance studio business in 1968, Eaton Travis and her husband moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and established a ranch. The initial 220-acre (89 ha) plot grew to 880 acres (356 ha), and many of the quarter-horses bred and raised on the ranch had success in racing. The ranch was still in operation, largely as a boarding facility, and managed by Eaton Travis, as of 2008.[11][7]
In 1997, she and four former Ziegfeld Girls reunited for the reopening of the New Amsterdam Theatre. She later recalled that she was the only one still able to dance.[3]
In 1998, Eaton Travis returned to Broadway and the New Amsterdam Theatre, the same venue where she had first appeared in 1918, 80 years earlier, to participate in the Easter Bonnet Competition, a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. She became the show's "lucky charm" and an audience favorite, and continued to appear in the production almost every year, often presenting renditions of her old dances to standing ovations from the audience.[4][12][8] In 1999 she made her first film appearance in over sixty-five years with a small role in Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey.[10]
She appeared in several documentaries and interviews about the Ziegfeld Follies and her siblings and colleagues; she also published an autobiography and family history, entitled The Days We Danced, in 2003.[3] In 2006, Eaton Travis was the subject of a photo-collage biography by Pulitzer Prize nominee Lauren Redniss entitled Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies.
In January 2008 Eaton Travis served as the Grand Marshal of the opening parade for the Art Deco Weekend festival in Miami Beach.[11] Her last public appearance was the opening of the 2010 Easter Bonnet show on April 27, 2010.[2] After a long life and career, Eaton Travis died of an aneurysm on May 11, 2010.[1] On May 12, the lights of Broadway were dimmed in her honor.[3] She is interred in the Guardian Angel Cemetery in Rochester, Michigan.[13]
Born in Highland Park, Michigan, of Spanish descent, she was married to television writer/producer Roy Huggins and appeared as a dancer in two episodes of his 1957 television series Maverick. Mara died of natural causes on May 7, 2010.
